Windmill



V. L. OCHOA.

WINDMILL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-2.1918.

I amen 01 l QL 0050a v. L. OCHOA.

WINDMILL.

APPLICATION FILED 0e12, I9I8.

1,319, 174. Patented Oct. 21,1919,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

vrc'ron LEATON ocHoA, OF EL PASO, TEXAS, nssxelvon OE ONE-HALF To LEIGH CLARK,

-. or EL rAso, TEXAS. 1'

WINDMILL, 1

Application filed October 2, 1918. Serial No. 256,559.

To all'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Vroron L. OCHOA, a citizen of the United States, residin at El Paso, in the county of El Paso and tate of Texas, haveinventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Windmills, of which the followingis a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates broadly to improvements'in wind mills, but in its more intense aspect it deals with the construction of a cylindrical windmill having a vertical axis, rather than that type having a circular disklike arrangement of vanes on a horizontal axis. It .willaccordingly. be conducive to clearness to disclose this invention through one of its embodiments in such relation as thereby certain of its characteristic advantages will more prominently appear. I

This invention. has in view among other objects the provision of a wind mill in which the vanes will automatically be maintained in thei'rrelation of maximum effectiveness and be capable of compensating for winds Of diverse intensity.

Another object residing within the contemplation ,of this inventioniis to devise a simple and eifective mechanism for enabling the vanes to swing vfree of their mountings and into ineffective position,v in excessive winds, thus insuring against damage orunduly rapid rotation.

' In general, this invention seeks to provide a device of the nature disclosed which, from a practical operative standpoint, will possess a high degree of eifectiveness and durability, and which, from structural considerations, will be of the greatest possible simplicity, being composed of but few parts, all of which may be made at a minimum of cost, andwhich are so correlated-as to be capable of being very readily assembled to accomplish the purposes intended.

Other objects will be in part obvious from the annexed drawings, and in part pointed out in the following description.

In order-that this invention maybe the more fully disclosed and'made comprehensible to othersskilled in the art, drawings illustrating one of the many possible adaptations of the same are'iannexed as a part of this disclosure, though obviously the underlying features of the same may be otherwise applied by modifications deducible from this disclosure=-and accordingly com- Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Oct. 21,1919.

vprehended within the intended scope of the annexed claims. v

In the accompanying drawings, correspgonding parts are similarly referred to by li e characters of reference throughout the figures of which:

Figure 1 is aifrontelevation of one embodiment of this invention, certain parts being broken away, and others being-shown in section, so as to more clearlyexemplify the. features of my constructions Fig. 2 isqa top plan viewof the device shown in Fig. 1 showing the positions-assumed by the vanes during the normal operation of the apparatus. v

Continuing now-by way of a. more detailed description of my} device with such occasional reference to thefdrawings as may be demanded by thereference characters, 1 denotes a support for my :wind millniechanism. Obviously, this support may'be'arranged in various ways, and, will be made to conform'to the practical requirements of each' particular usage to which my-wind mill will be put. 1 .From the support 1, I provide an extensible vertical shaft comprising an inner elongated member 2 which is telescoped by an elongated outer member 3 which forms a sliding sleeve, so to speak. These two members are capable of sliding 0r translating with respect to one another, and one carries the upper set of radiating arms, whereas the other carries the lower set of radiating arms.

' An'expansible coil spring 41 intervenes between the upper end of the elongated hollow sleeve and the top end of the inner shaft member 2. The function of this spring is to urge the sleeve and inner shaft apart so as to extend the composite shaft. For the purpose of pr'eventingan undue extension of the composite shaft, I haveprovided an adjusting means comprisinga hand wheel 5 carrying a screw 6 which bears in the lower end 7 of the inner elongated shaft. The hand wheel serves as a collar against which the lower end of the sleeve '3 may abut, thus preventing an undue extension on the one hand, and enabling a contraction to take placeon the other hand. I j V j A' hub 8 of suitable construction is carried by the lower end of the sliding sleeve 3' and asimilar hub 9" is fixed upon the upper end of the companion shaft member Togthese hubs are attached in pivotal-relations. series of radiating arms 10, which may be of any suitable form, as for example that shown better by Fig. 2. 1

These arms 10 in my preferred sample construction comprise a pair of companlon pieces 11 and 12 (see Fig. 2) which. are spread at their inner ends and PIOV1C161I1- turned portions 13 and 14 wh ch are pivotally mounted in lugs 15 and 16 forming part of the hub. At their outer ends, these pieces 11 and 12 run parallel and are spaced apart, this being conventionally done by means of a block 17 and the end '18 of the vane supporting rod. 1 D

The radial arms carry an interlockmg device at their outermost extremities. That is to say, a plate 19 having side wings 20, and an intermediate aperture 21 is secured to the outermost extremity of each of the radiating arms in such manner that the recess 21 will lie between the parallel extreme ends of the members 11 and 12 forming part of the radiating arms. It is to be noted that the side wings turn upwardly, as shown more clearly by Fig. 1, the purpose being to enable the end of a spring to ride under either of these wings and snap into engagement within the recess 21. This, however, will be more clearly apparent presently.

Links 22 are pivotally connected at their ends between the parallel extremities of the companion members of the radiating arms. See in this connection Fig. 1. It will be perceived that this device affords a yielding arrangement for the framework com posed of the connecting links 22, the radiating arms and the extensible vertical shaft.

The vanes are preferably mounted to swing on the links 22, and to that end, I may provide a tubular member 28 to which the vanes are ailixed by means of the brace members 25. This construction forms a hinge, so to speak, for the vanes, and as will be seen, the vanes project inwardly toward the extensible shaft and are maintained in vertical position by their mountings.

have resorted to a peculiar means of restricting the movement of the vanes with respect to the rest of the apparatus. Thus, I have arranged a spring 26 so as to intervene between the vanes 24: and the radiating arms. As will be seen more clearly by referring to Fig. 2, this spring 26 has its end 27 inturned and seated within one of the vane braces in such manner as to form an interlocking joint. This interlocking is permanent in the ordinary use of my invention. After coiling around the sleeve 23, the springturns upwardly, as indicated at 28,. and this upturned portion is arranged to snap into engagement with the seat 21. from the abovedescription, it will be noted that the vanes are flexibly mounted by virtue of their. spring connection with the radiating arms, and in consequence, these vanes are enabled to spring under the conjoint influence of the wind and the springs into their most effective positions, as illustrated by Fig. 2.

In case the wind should be very violent,

the speed of rotation of my apparatus will and will no longer be effective under the influence of the wind, and the excessive movement of the apparatus will not occur. So soon as the movement has diminished and has become entirely normal, the ends of the springs will again become engaged in the recesses and the vanes will be brought into effective position once more.

It will thus be perceived that I have succeededin achieving the several objects and ends in View, and that my invention is noteworthy for a characteristic simplicity and effectiveness of action. Furthermore, the few parts of which my device is composed are none of an involved individual design, but on the contrary, are of such nature as enables them to be made with the greatest of facility by the various appliances common to shops.

Inasmuch as the special features of this invention could be very readily modified in form and utilized in many seemingly different constructions, I desire the foregoing disclosures to' be regarded in an illustrative, rather than in a limiting sense, and I also desire it to be understood that the language of the following claims is to be interpreted as covering the generic and specific features .Of this invention and all statements of the scope thereof, which form the aspect of the prior art, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim:

1. A device of the nature disclosed comprising in combination, an upright extensible shaft, an upper and lower series of arms radiating from the upper and lower ends of said shaft, a series of vanes normally in operative position pivotally carried by the outer ends of said arms, means interposed between said vanes and said arms to restrict the swing of said vanes, and means enabling said means to become inoperative underexcessive speeds. V

2. A device of the nature disclosed comprlsmg incombination, an upright extensible shaft, 2.. spring arranged to maintain said shaft in extended condition, an adjustable means for positively limiting the extent of extension, a series of vanes normally in operative position carried 'by said shaft, means for supporting the vanes from said shaft, and means controlled by variations in the length of said shaft for rendering said vanes inoperative under excessive speeds.

3. A device of the nature disclosed comprising in combination, a framework comprising a member adapted to be moved under 10 centrifugal force, a vane mounted adjacent said member and adapted to be moved independently thereof, and a spring releasably connecting said vane and member.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses. 15

VICTOR LEATON OCHOA.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS J. LYONS, H. J. DARROCH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). 0. 

